Chris Perkins - Dementia: What You Need to Know: A Guide for People With Dementia, and Their Caregivers

Alzheimers is one of the words that has infiltrated our consciousness over the past decade. Along with other forms of dementia, Alzheimers has become part of everyday conversation and concern. As life-spans lengthen, so the numbers afflicted by dementia will increase from 35.6 million in the world in 2010 to 65.7 million by 2050. There are few of us who do not know someone with the condition, often a close relative whose loss of mental capacity is distressing to them as well as to family and friends.

But here is a book that will assist both the person with dementia and the caregiver. Life situations are always more difficult to handle in the absence of information and understanding. What is scary in the dark becomes less so when the light goes on. Chris Perkins sheds light on many aspects of dementia in this practical and compassionate book.

Understanding the nature and processes of dementia is an important start. Recognising different forms, and distinguishing it from other conditions, is an important preliminary diagnostic tool. To know the path it is likely to take is helpful in preparing for the future.

Despite common belief, the condition is not totally untreatable. Two chapters describe both medical forms of treatment and a variety of supplementary therapies that are available massage and music, acupuncture and diet, herbal remedies and homeopathy, to name just a few. These options temper realism with hope for both the person with dementia and those who stand by.

The author deals with options for care, both residential care and care at home for the 70 per cent of people with dementia who remain in their own homes. One of the most difficult dynamics is when a caregiver has to decide when residential care is necessary, even on an intermittent basis. There is a natural sense of guilt in feeling one has failed to fully support an ageing parent. Yet the reality is that caregivers also need a break in order to care for themselves, and ultimately to be better able to care for their family member because of that.

This book explores the key topic of how one communicates with people with dementia about their condition so that a healthy and liberating transparency characterises the relationship. The discussion surrounding the tricky question of how to persuade someone to give up driving has application not just for those with Alzheimers.

Later in the book an innovative chapter deals with the spiritual and cultural dimensions of care. In an age preoccupied with fiscal and technical criteria, it is refreshing to find attention given to those immeasurable dimensions of life that nourish the human soul. The pluralistic nature of Western society today calls for an approach that is inclusive of the spectrum of religious and non-religious spiritualities that make up our colourful communities. The author provides this with abundance.

I have known Chris Perkins for 35 years. She writes from her extensive experience as a medical professional, her own fully developed spirituality, and her deep compassion and practical wisdom. This is a book that will meet a market hungry for insights and help with a condition that leaves no family untouched. It is a pleasure to commend it as a new and accessible resource with universal appeal.

Richard Randerson

(Richard Randerson is a former Chair of the Board of the Selwyn Foundation and former Dean of Auckland Cathedral)